Barbarossa - facing 'a bitter, bitter enemy'
24th June 1941: German soldiers quickly realise that the battle in the Soviet Union will be unlike anything before
The German assault on the Soviet Union progressed quickly, with the Panzers thrusting deep into enemy territory and the Luftwaffe decimating the Soviet air force both on the ground and in the air. But the shock of the assault and the realisation by many Soviet units that they had been overtaken by the enemy did not lead to an immediate collapse in Russian morale or that of their commanders.
On the contrary, all the accounts from German soldiers in individual memoirs or in collections recall a fierce resistance by individuals and small groups of soldiers:
Beyond the forest we were waiting for resupply near a cornfield for at least two hours. Suddenly two Russians jumped out of the field with their hands raised. A sergeant waved to them to come forward. At that moment they both dodged; one threw a hand grenade and the other fired a pistol at the sergeant - wounding him. Those two Russians must have hidden themselves motionless in that field for three or more hours before we showed up.1
